Guitars, a bassline, and a flute that was sampled from a Prophet-6 synthesizer constitute the song's production, which is influenced by the boom bap subgenre of hip hop.

On the SOS Tour, where she first performed "Kill Bill", she recreated various visual elements from the film duology and the music video, such as the costume.

Other live performances also involved sword props and, in some cases, choreography inspired by the Kill Bill films, featuring background dancers who participated in swordfight scenes.

"[13][14] American Songwriter's Alex Hopper, writing about how the song's lyrics reflected the films' plot, noted that jealousy was Bill's motive for the assassination attempt.

[note 1] While work on SOS had begun by 2019, "Kill Bill" was recorded in 2022 alongside a significant number of other tracks due to bursts of productivity from time pressure.

[30] Settling on a polyrhythmic production with a swing style, he took more beats from a separate, vintage drum machine and made them twice as slow as the first approach, and he added more guitars and bass on top.

[26] "Kill Bill" was written during one of what SZA called "palate cleanser" moments, sessions where she would quickly write full songs in between ones she took more seriously and wanted to meticulously finish.

[5][42][43] For Philippine Daily Inquirer journalist Carl Martin Agustin, the hook conjures the imagery of "the bride preparing her mark for his eternal slumber".

Out of 23 songs, "Kill Bill" appears as the second track;[51][52] following its success on streaming platforms, RCA Records chose it as the next radio single from the album.

However, RCA and various radio programmers eventually decided to promote the two songs simultaneously despite the intricacies of planning dual singles, citing the large streaming numbers that "Kill Bill" gained in December and the radio-friendly appeal of the lyrics and production.

[64] The sped-up version capitalizes and is based on a viral trend on TikTok where users would increase the pitch and tempo of certain songs and post them on the application.

[66] In 2021, SZA collaborated with American rapper Doja Cat for the song "Kiss Me More",[67] serving as the lead single from the latter's third studio album, Planet Her (2021).

[69] Three months after SZA teased "Shirt" was a collaboration, Punch told Complex that Doja Cat was to feature not on the song's original version, but on a remix instead.

"[72] A remix of "Kill Bill", featuring Doja Cat, was surprise-released hours later at 9 pm,[73][74] with a rap verse that opens the song and continues the storyline of the original version.

[30][77] According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, it was the third best-selling single of 2023, earning 1.84 billion units based on streams and digital sales,[78] and it was Spotify's second most-streamed song of 2023.

[93] Three songs kept "Kill Bill" from the top spot: "Anti-Hero" (2022) by Taylor Swift,[94] "Flowers" (2023) by Miley Cyrus, and "Last Night" (2023) by Morgan Wallen.

[96] "Kill Bill" ended 2023 as the third best-performing song in the US,[97] and it has been certified 8× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling 8,000,000 equivalent units.

Many of them called "Kill Bill" a highlight of SOS,[note 4] and Sophie Williams of NME attributed the choice to its vivid, detail-heavy storytelling.

[122][123] Meanwhile, Vulture's Zoe Guy, Pitchfork's Jill Mapes, and Rolling Stone's Mankaprr Conteh lauded "Kill Bill" as an exemplar of how to blend pop-culture references with internal struggles and candid self-reflection to create a lyrically memorable song.

"[66] Some critics praised "Kill Bill" for its novel approach to revenge songs,[122] such as Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen of The Sydney Morning Herald, who wrote that SZA provided a refreshing and "intoxicating" take to very common tropes associated with murder ballads.

[127][128][129] Lyndsey Havens for Billboard said that "Kill Bill" was good for singalongs,[97] and in The Atlantic, Spencer Kornhaber wrote: "As if her evil genius was in doubt, [it] will have millions of people doing their holiday shopping with a serial-killer confession stuck in their head.

"[130] Other critics praised her vocals, writing that its softness elevated the song's vulnerability and intimacy,[17][42] and its production, with two describing its melody as smooth as water.

[131][132] The original version appeared in best-of-2023 song listicles published on USA Today (unranked)[23] and Pitchfork (6),[122] and it was placed at number one by Heran Mamo on Billboard's.

[137] On their 2023 listicle, the magazine wrote that "Kill Bill" marked SZA's "official crossover from subversive R&B tastemaker to bona fide pop star".

In Breslauer's words, she wanted "less performance and [more] acting"; the result was a short action film heavily inspired by the Kill Bill duology.

Fox, the actress who starred in Kill Bill as a Deadly Viper and the Bride's enemy Vernita Green, makes a cameo in the video.

[158] Pre-production began in the middle of December 2022, when Top Dawg approached London Alley to produce the video, and principal photography took place six days later.

It contains the line "I had to do it to you", which she deemed fitting because when applied in the context of "Kill Bill", the lyrics captured SZA's celebration of revenge and the glory it brought her.

[155][162] SZA arrives at a location analogous to the films' House of Blue Leaves, a Japanese bar that served as the headquarters for O-Ren Ishii, a high-ranking assassin of the Deadly Vipers.

[167] When the tour's concerts neared their end, she would change her outfit to wear red biker pants and a motor suit, similar to her look for the music video.